Beating Heart
by MetalBeats4051
Summary: It's a tale of glasses and Gucci, anatomy and Armani; a tale of hearts, of love, of life.


Being in love wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

For one thing, Percy Jackson was certain his heart was going to just give up one day, because every time he stole a glance at Annabeth Chase, his veins constricted and his breath started coming and he showed all the symptoms of organ failure.

He'd tried looking through his medical dictionary, but there wasn't any entry under _true love. _So he just had to endure the torture of watching Annabeth laugh, her honey-blonde curls tumbling down her back, her grey eyes sparkle with mirth.

But that wasn't even the worst thing. She was _single. _A hot commodity (_god, Percy hated that objectifying term)_, for sure, but single. He could have just strolled over, used the suave charm he was known for in high school (when he wasn't writing extra credit essays), and tried to pick her up. It wouldn't have worked, but it was sure better than spying on her from the university library.

"You're such a nerd," his best friend, Piper had said. "Just try to be her friend! She won't bite. I think."

And that was the thing. He was a full-blown nerd, with black hair, green eyes, glasses, the works. He was the top student at Harvard, pursuing a promising career in cardiology, and every teacher's favorite student. The last time he'd got anything less than an A was fourth grade, when he'd thought that 8 times 7 was 48 and cried. For an hour or two, or fourteen. He was also the varsity swim team's star, which definitely boosted his social rep but didn't disguise the Pokemon-playing, Star Wars dork he was.

"I don't stand a chance, Pipes. It's okay."

"But my bestie is going to the dance with no one!" Piper pouted, winding her caramel locks on her finger. She was dating Jason Grace, quarterback of the Yale football team.

"You're going with Jason Grace, right? Just have fun, Pipes. I think I have a history final, or an anatomy paper. Professor Athena is really hard on us."

And so another dance had passed, just like high school. Annabeth had probably been out with a handsome guy, whose name might be Luke Castellan, who might have been the star of the rugby team (Percy did his research, all right) and he'd been at home, listening to Coldplay. All had been right with the world.

"Laura, you've got to be freaking serious."

"You need to break up with Luke. Your grades are seriously dropping, and I discussed it with Dean Zeus. You can stay in Harvard, as long as you raise your grades."

"But I love him!" Annabeth Chase raised her hands in frustration, trying to stare Laura Chase down.

"Oh?" The latter raised a perfectly arched eyebrow. "Well, I know what's best for you, _dear. _Break up with him or I'll release the photos."

And so almost the entire college watched as the "it" couple of the season had a shouting match, and was declared dead.

That night, Annabeth sat on her bed in a 5-story Tudor mansion, looking out the French windows, and wondered when her life had become so not worth it.

But the scars on her thighs, hidden from the world, answered that question.

"Um, excuse me?"

_Oh, god no. _Percy Jackson slowly lifted his head from his calculus textbook and stared into the gray eyes of his crush/worst enemy/something, Annabeth Chase.

"Yes?" His voice came out deep, which was a relief. He was squealing like a guinea pig inside.

"You're, um, Perseus Jackson?"

"Call me Percy, but yeah."

"So, here's the thing. I need tutoring." He had to consciously keep his mouth shut, because it seemed like a cruel twist of the fates that a) she needed tutoring and b) she came to him.

"Okay. So...do you want me to tutor you?" Her eyes panicky, she slowly nodded.

"I'll pay you, if you want. Just in anatomy, calculus and English. Does $1,000 per session sound okay?" Holy mother of-

"That's totally fine. Where do you want to meet up?"

"Starbucks, maybe? 4:00, every Tuesday and Friday." Percy wasn't (much) of a math whiz, but he knew that 1,000 times 2 was 2,000. 2,000 times 4 was 8,000 freaking dollars.

"Sure. We'll start today?"

"Fine." She gave him a strained smile, and marched away.

"What the hell, Perce? That was the most sexually charged convo I've ever heard."

"Piper, did you have to eavesdrop? And...no." Piper rolled her eyes, and wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

"We'll see at _Starbucks, _won't we now?"

"You mean I'll see, because no way in hell are you tagging along to-

"So you'll admit I'll see something!"

Damn literature majors.

**Hey! How's it going, people? This is a three or four chapter fic, because I can't write long ones. **

**Read, favorite, and review!**


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